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NCAA Tournament Recap (Ohio St-St Johns)
Posted: Sat March 20, 1999 at 10:15 p.m. EST KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Ohio State continued one of the most stunning one-year turnarounds and advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1968, escaping with a 77-74 victory over St. John's in the South Region final of the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes went 8-22 last season and had a 1-15 mark in the Big Ten Conference as first-year coach Jim O'Brien came from Boston College and purged the team of players he did not want, jettisoning talented players and starters Jermaine Tate, Damon Stringer and Shaun Stonerook. "It's hard to imagine how we put ourselves in this position," said O'Brien, who now tries to end a personal 18-game losing streak to Connecticut in the Final Four next Saturday at St. Petersburg, Florida. "It's really hard to put into words the feelings that is shared by all of us right now." O'Brien had an ace in the hole in point guard Scoonie Penn, who sat out the 1997-98 season after following O'Brien from Boston College. This season, the 5-10 Penn combined with 6-7 sophomore Michael Redd to form one of the best backcourts in the nation, leading the Buckeyes to a second-place finish in the Big Ten. "I was just happy," said Redd, who stood with his hands on his hips at the end of the game before joining his teammates in celebration. "All the struggling last year, suffering, so much hurt, crying after games, wondering whether it would end. And finally being able to win. ..." Today, the two again carried most of the scoring load, combining for 42 points as Ohio State (27-8) reached the Final Four for the ninth time in school history. But they received an unexpected boost from forward Jason Singleton and center Ken Johnson, who combined for 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting. Johnson also had seven blocked shots for the Buckeyes, who shot 55 percent (29-of-53). Penn, the Most Outstanding Player of the South Region, finished with 22 points and Redd added 20 for the Buckeyes, who nearly blew a nine-point lead in the final 2:47 because of their spotty foul shooting. "It's been a tremendous season," said Penn, who also was the Big Ten Player of the Year. "Personally, if you would take both of those away, I still wouldn't care as long as we won both of these games. If it wasn't for my teammates, I wouldn't be able to do any of this." St. John's (28-9) actually had two chances to tie or win the game, but Chudney Gray missed the first of two free throws with 12.2 seconds to play and freshman Erick Barkley lost control of his dribble with five seconds left as he tried to drive for a game-tying shot. Lavor Postell scored 24 points and Bootsy Thornton added 18 for the Red Storm, who were denied their first Final Four appearance since 1985. St. John's never led and trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half before mounting its furious rally. "Any loss is tough," said Red Storm coach Mike Jarvis. "When you get this far, it's tougher. I told our players to remember the journey we took. I want them to reflect on what we accomplished and how well they played. I can hardly wait until next year." The 2-3 zone defense that worked so brilliantly for St. John's in wins over Indiana and Maryland failed to produce the same results as the Buckeyes spread their offense to get Johnson and Singleton -- who entered the game averaging 15 points combined -- involved underneath. The pair netted eight points to help Ohio State maintain a double-digit lead, with Johnson making a seven-footer for a 53-40 edge at the 13:42 mark. "I didn't know he was that good," Postell admitted. "I've got to give him credit. He scored, pulled down rebounds and blocked a lot of shots. He played a great game under there." A 7-0 burst by the Red Storm pulled them within 53-47, but Penn nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to rebuild the lead to nine with 11:47 to go. Slobodan Savovic made it 61-48 with a 3-pointer at the 9:49 mark and a 3-pointer by Penn seemed to give Ohio State a stranglehold on the game at 69-59 with 5:44 left. St. John's closed to 69-63 on a pair of free throws by Postell, but Singleton had a pair of baskets around a foul shot by Barkley that made it 73-64 with 2:50 to play. Neither team scored again until Thornton had a three-point play with 88 seconds left. Ohio State committed a pair of turnovers around one by the Red Storm, and Barkley missed an eight-footer. After another miss by the Buckeyes, Ron Artest hit a four-footer to pull St. John's within 73-69 with 49 seconds left. Penn quickly was fouled and made both free throws and Gray had a lay-in to cut the deficit to four. Redd, a 62 percent foul shooter, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 34 seconds to go, and Artest took advantage by hitting a layup to make it 75-73 with 24 seconds to play. "I was feeling terrible," Redd said of the missed free throw. "But I didn't show it. I played through it and told myself I'd make the next one." Gray fouled freshman Brian Brown, and the 53 percent foul shooter also missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Gray again charged into the lane, where he was fouled by George Reese with 12.5 seconds left. But Gray, a 67 percent shooter from the line, missed the first one before hitting the second to make it 75-74. Penn was fouled before the inbounds pass could be completed and he made the second of the two foul shots. Barkley was able to weave his way into Ohio State's frontcourt before losing control of his dribble on the right side. The ball bounced to Redd, who raced upcourt before being fouled by Artest with less than a second to play. He made the first free throw, and Barkley's desperation 75-footer was well off the mark. "I'm not sure what happened," Penn said. "I thought I got a hand on the ball. it landed into Michael's hands. We went down court and wasted the time down." Barkley was blaming himself for the loss but Jarvis would have none of it. "What I tell him tonight has nothing to do with what he thinks," Jarvis said. "We wouldn't be here tonight or have a chance to win the game without Erick Barkley. He's our most valuable player. He'll blame himself, and I'll tell him he's full of it. And he'll be the first kid in the gym trying to get stronger." Redd scored 17 points in the first half as Ohio State marched to a 41-33 lead after 20 minutes. Penn scored nine of the Buckeyes' first 13 points, hitting a three-point play, four-point play and acrobatic layup in transition in the first 6:43 to stake Ohio State to a 13-7 lead. Ohio State took its first double-digit lead at 28-18 on a pair of free throws by Savovic with 5:31 left. The Red Storm whittled the deficit to 38-33 with 26 seconds to go after three-point plays by Barkley and Thornton, but Redd calmly milked the clock, juked Gray and stuck a 3-pointer from the top of the key right before time expired. St. John's shot 39 percent (26-of-66) but held a 45-28 edge on the boards. Artest was held to nine points on 4-of-10 shooting and committed five first-half turnovers. Barkley was 4-of-15 from the field and had seven assists and seven rebounds with only one turnover.© 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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